April 25, 2026 @ 7:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CB Insights indicated that Fintech funding activity in the first quarter of 2026 painted a picture of a maturing industry tightening its belt while directing capital toward proven players. According to CB Insights’ latest analysis, the sector closed the period with just 762 deals—a multi-year… Read More

April 25, 2026 @ 4:39 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Southeast Asia’s private equity market remained under pressure in 2025 as deal value declined and exit activity weakened, highlighting ongoing liquidity challenges for private capital investors, according to a new report by Bain & Company. Total deal value in the region fell about 10% year-on-year… Read More

April 25, 2026 @ 4:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Brazilian authorities have blocked access to leading prediction market platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket. The move forms part of a larger enforcement effort targeting unlicensed betting-style services, with officials emphasizing the need to shield everyday investors from unregulated risks. Finance Minister Dario Durigan announced the… Read More

April 25, 2026 @ 4:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

PitchBook’s Q1 2026 Fintech VC Trends update indicated that venture capital investment in the fintech sector reached $11.5 billion across 563 deals. While this marked a 24 percent sequential decline from the previous quarter, it represented a steady 46.3 percent increase year-over-year, signaling sustained momentum… Read More

April 25, 2026 @ 4:34 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Singapore SMEs do not appear to lack interest in artificial intelligence. What many lack is a clear starting point, and the financing, partners, and safeguards to move from experimentation to deployment. DBS, Enterprise Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority are seeking to address that… Read More

April 25, 2026 @ 4:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Ethereum Foundation has reportedly finalized an over-the-counter transaction involving 10,000 ETH tokens that were sold directly to BitMine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR). The publicly traded firm, chaired by crypto analyst Tom Lee, acquired the assets at an average price of $2,387 per token, resulting in… Read More

April 25, 2026 @ 11:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Speculation about hidden alliances and undisclosed breakthroughs frequently fuels community discussions. David Schwartz, a co-creator of the XRP Ledger and former chief technology officer at Ripple, recently stepped forward on social media to confront persistent rumors suggesting secretive government connections or large-scale undisclosed plans involving… Read More

April 25, 2026 @ 10:32 am By Omar Faridi  |  

TRM Labs noted that on April 24, 2026, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took a significant step in digital asset enforcement by blacklisting two cryptocurrency wallets directly tied to Iran’s Central Bank. The move, which also highlighted connections to the… Read More

April 25, 2026 @ 10:26 am By Omar Faridi  |  

JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) has outlined a measured yet optimistic outlook on tokenization’s role in reshaping the asset management landscape. According to the banking services provider, converting traditional financial assets into digital tokens on blockchain networks holds the potential to fundamentally alter operations across the entire… Read More

April 25, 2026 @ 10:25 am By Michael Wong  |  

For South Korean travelers in Vietnam, paying for coffee, taxis, or hotel bills may soon feel much more like paying at home. BIDV, Vietnam National Payment Corporation (NAPAS), South Korea’s KEB Hana Bank, and GLN International have launched a cross-border QR code payment service linking… Read More

April 25, 2026 @ 7:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK officials are actively negotiating with Anthropic to enable a restricted deployment of the company’s advanced Claude Mythos AI platform for use by UK companies. This effort reflects growing official awareness of the transformative yet risky nature of cutting-edge artificial intelligence in protecting digital systems… Read More

April 24, 2026 @ 5:26 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This week’s Web3 Thoughts of the Week tackles DoorDash and stablecoins, spot Bitcoin ETFs, and DeFi’s tattered image. DoorDash stablecoin use “It hasn’t ever been about DoorDash adopting crypto. It’s about the fact that money is finally starting to behave like the Internet. “Stablecoins are… Read More

April 24, 2026 @ 5:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Chainalysis noted that on April 18, 2026, cybercriminals believed to be tied to North Korea’s Lazarus Group executed one of the largest DeFi heists of the year, siphoning approximately $292 million (116,500 rsETH) from KelpDAO’s LayerZero-powered bridge. Unlike typical smart-contract vulnerabilities, this breach targeted off-chain… Read More

April 24, 2026 @ 5:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

AI enabler Anthropic has again ignited global attention with its latest technological breakthrough and a shift in how it manages investor access. The AI focused company recently unveiled Claude Mythos Preview, an advanced AI system designed to identify and address potentialy hidden weaknesses in the… Read More

April 24, 2026 @ 4:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Alpaca has finalized the purchase of WealthKernel, a specialized European fintech provider. The acquired entity will now run as Alpaca Europe, granting the company a fully compliant operational base across the United Kingdom and the broader European Union. Alpaca has also rolled out initial support… Read More

April 24, 2026 @ 3:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bridgetower has integrated Chainlink’s institutional-grade infrastructure to digitize securities tied to the DOM X Arizona Copper-Gold Project. Valued at $11 billion, this U.S.-based natural resource initiative marks the initial phase of Bridgetower’s plan to bring more than $25 billion in assets across natural resources, energy,… Read More

April 24, 2026 @ 2:17 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Derivative Path, a derivatives and risk management platform serving financial institutions, is collaborating with Baton Systems, a real-time risk, liquidity, collateral and settlement orchestration platform, to deliver a fully integrated FX payments and nostro management solution for regional and mid-market financial institutions. Many regional and… Read More

April 24, 2026 @ 11:14 am By JD Alois  |  

The DeFi Education Fund has sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission requesting rulemaking regarding DeFi (Decentralized Finance). The DeFi Education Fund is a non-profit that advocates for regulatory clarity and research on the DeFi sector. The group was established in 2021 through… Read More

April 24, 2026 @ 9:51 am By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, AngelList announced a new venture capital fund, USVC. AngelList has long been a key innovator for online capital formation. The company spawned sister platforms, including Republic and CoinList, while providing a digital path for early-stage firms to raise capital and investors to participate in… Read More

April 24, 2026 @ 9:05 am By JD Alois  |  

This week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the US Department of Justice charged an active duty military member with insider trading in regard to the arrest of Nicolas Maduro, the former dictator of Venezuela. The allegations were that Gannon Ken Van Dyke, the… Read More